Euro-Mediterranean Tsunami Catalogue (EMTC)

version 2

Earthquake magnitude from Sbeinati et al. (2005).

Detailed investigation by Darawcheh et al. (2000) and Elias et al. (2007). Summary by Salamon et al. (2007, 2011). Some studies (Ambraseys and Jackson, 1998; Ambraseys et al., 1994) place the earthquake in, around, or offshore Lebanon. Darawcheh et al. (2000) suggest the Roum Fault. Most recent studies by Daeron et al. (2004) and Elias et al. (2007) suggest an earthquake on the Beirut (Mount Lebanon) thrust (Salamon et al., 2011).

Tsunami in Lebanon, between Tyre and Tripoli.(Guidoboni et al., 1994; Ozansoy, 1999; Sbeinati et al., 2005; Soysal et al., 1981; Yolsal et al., 2007).

Ambraseys (1962) mentions a tsunami on the Syrian coast. Ambraseys et al. (1994) mention a "Seismic sea wave on the coast of Phoenice". Ambraseys (2009), states that “Along the coast of Phoenice the sea receded for many hours stranding sailing boats in the shallows. Then the sea came back, throwing ships on land, causing great havoc before returning to its original level.”. Amiran et al. (1994): "Tsunami at Lebanese coast. May have affected Caesarea." Guidoboni et al. (1994): "... the sea retreated for a mile and many ships were destroyed.” A recent study of Darawcheh et al. (2000) restricts the tsunami between Tyre and Tripoli.

Following historical sources, Guidoboni et al. (1994) mention that cities along the Lebanese and Syrian coasts, including Beirut, were destroyed.

In Botrys Mt. Lithoprosopon broke off and fell in to the sea, and formed a new harbour; the sea retreated for a mile and then was restored to its original bed. Many ships were destroyed (Guidoboni et al., 1994; Ozansoy, 1999; Altinok et al. (2011).). According to Soloviev et al. (2000) the sea retreat was about 1 km.

• Ambraseys N., Jackson J., (1998). Faulting associated with historical and recent earthquakes in the Eastern Mediterranean, Geophys. J. Int., vol.133, pp.390 406.
• Ambraseys N.N., Melville C.P., Adam R.D., (1994). The seismicity of Egypt, Arabia and Red Sea: A Historical Review, Cambridge, pp.181.
• Ambraseys N. N., (1962). Data for the investigation of the seismic sea-waves in the eastern Mediterranean. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 52, 895-913.
• Amiran D. H. K. E., Arieh, T. Turcotte, (1994). Earthquakes in Israel and adjacent areas: Macroseismic observations since 100 B. C. E., Isr. Explor. J., 44, 261–305.
• Daëron M., Benedetti L., Tapponnier P., Sursock, A. and Finkel R., (2004). Constraints on the post ca.25-ka slip rate of the Yammoûneh fault (Lebanon) using in situ cosmogenic 36Cl dating of offset limestone clast fans, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.227, 105–119.
• Darawcheh R., Sbeinati R. M., Margottini C. and Paolini S. (2000): The 9 July 551 A.D. Beirut earthquake, Eastern Mediterranean region, J. Earthquake Eng., 4, 403-414.
• Elias, A., Tapponnier, P., Singh, S.C., King, G. C.P., Briais, A.,Daëron, M., Carton, H., Sursock, A., Jacques, E., Jomaa, R., and Klinger, Y., (2007). Active thrusting offshore Mount Lebanon: Source of the tsunamigenic A.D. 551 Beirut-Tripoli earthquake Geology, August, 2007, v. 35, p. 755-758. https://doi.org/10.1130/G23631A.1  [link]
• Guidoboni, E., Comastri, A., and Traina, G., (1994), Catalogue of ancient earthquakes in the Mediterranean area up to the 10th century: Rome, Istituto Nazionale di Geofi sica, 504 p.
• Ozansoy, E., (1999). Antakya earthquakes from Ioannis Malalas’ chronography, Mesogeios Mediterrenee, 3, 83–98, Heredetos/Kadmos, Paris, (in Greek).
• Salamon A., Rockwell T., Ward S.N., Guidoboni E. and Comastri A., (2007). Tsunami Hazard Evaluation of the Eastern Mediterranean: Historical Analysis and Selected Modeling, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 97, 3, pp. 705-724. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120060147  [link]
• Sbeinati M.R., Darawcheh R. and Mouty M., (2005). The historical earthquakes of Syria: an analysis of large and moderate earthquakes from 1365 B.C. to 1900 A.D., Annals of Geophysics, 48, 3, pp. 347-435.
• Soloviev S.L., Solovieva O.N., Go C.N., Kim K.S and Shchetnikov N.A., (2000). Tsunamis in the Mediterranean Sea 2000 B.C. - 2000 A.D.. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
• Soysal H., Sipahioglu S., Kolcak D., and Altinok Y., (1981). Türkiye ve Cevresinin Tarihsel Deprem Katalogu (MO. 2100-MS. 1900), TUBITAK, Project No: TBAG 341, Istanbul, pp. 87. (in Turkish).
• Yolsal S., Taymaz T., Yalciner A.C., (2007). Understanding tsunamis, potential source regions and tsunami-prone mechanisms in the Eastern Mediterranean.In: Taymaz, T., Yilmaz, Y. Dilek, Y. (eds) The geodynamics of the Aegean and Anatolia. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 291, pp. 201–230.
• Altinok,Y., Alpar B., Özer, N. and Aykurt, H., (2011). Revision of the tsunami catalogue affecting Turkish coasts and surrounding regions, NHESS, 11, 2, 273-291.
• Ambraseys, N.N., (2009). Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, A Multidisciplinary Study of Seismicity up to 1900. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK, xx + 947 pp.
• Salamon A., Thomas Rockwell T., Guidoboni E. and Comastri A., (2011). A critical evaluation of tsunami records reported for the Levant Coast from the second millennium bce to the present. Isr. J. Earth Sci.; 58: 327–354. https://doi.org/10.1560/IJES.58.2–3.327  [link]